Grey Cards....Ordered

jockwav said:
Has anyone ever used one of these & are they sny good.:)
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/White-Balance...raphy_DigitalCamAccess_RL&hash=item27b3176a2c
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You mean the one that says it isn't a grey card replacement?!

They're fine for white balance setting, but if you want to use it for an incident exposure reading then you would have to test it for transmission and add an appropriate compensation factor to pull it in line with 18% grey.

Or you could equally use a piece of white paper, or a coffee filter is popular, or any kind of white transulscent plastic lid. Pringles lids used to be popular, but they're not white anymore. Fine for white balance, and also for incident exposure readings, once you've applied the appropriate compensation.
 
What grey card would you recommend getting Richard,cheers.:)
 
Do you want it for exposure checking, or incident readings, or just white balance? For WB anything neutral will do fine, like white paper/card.

Maybe one of these lastolite jobbies http://www.lastolite.com/exposure-and-calibration-tools.php or one of those little pocket ones, WhiBal? http://mtapesdesign.com/whibal/ Or an Exposdisc - does white balance and incident 18% grey http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-expodisc-77mm/p1005591

They all seem like a lot of money (and a fair helping of bullcrap) for something you can do for nothing... ;)
 
Thanks guys,i might have a play around with card or something first then have a look around.:):thumbs:
 
Thanks for that,i have been looking at calumet & other types that you can fold down.:):thumbs:
 
Theres been some discussion recently as to whether modern digital cameras are set for 18% grey, it seems they vary between about 12-20% so you'd need to test it and set up some compensation if needed with your cameras.
 
Cheers for that,not too sure how to test if my camera is getting near 18% or not.:shrug:
Might be easier with a grey card.
 
I am sure that it was hoppyuk that told me they are not,or it might have been someone else in the know on here that said that.:)
 
Dave in Wales said:
The industry standard for years was/is Kodak.

http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/item/109-199A/

D in W
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Yes it was/is ;) Except that I've got a Kodak card and it's not neutral! Though it's certainly very close to an 18% tone and they claim within 1% of that. I guess the colour may vary slightly :shrug: Pretty poor really - I paid £18 for three bits of cardboard - actually made by Tiffen in the US. The instructions that come with it say use the grey side for exposure, and the 90% white side for colour balance. The two sides are certainly different!

Quite a few cards and stuff here, from Colour Confidence https://shop.colourconfidence.com/search.php?xSearch=grey+card&searchSubmit=Search

jockwav said:
I am sure that it was hoppyuk that told me they are not,or it might have been someone else in the know on here that said that.:)
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That's true - it's an internet myth that Lowepro bags are 18% grey inside. I don't think Lowepro have ever claimed that it is. And the three bags that I have are all very slightly different. I had a ThinkTank was closer, but also still a bit too light.
 
Yep it does look the job for me i think,i am just a sucker for buying this kind of stuff.:)
 
Do they help you doing building & general outdoor shots?.:)
 
They certainly don't do any harm - it depends on the shot though. They're great for mid/close-ish work where the Ezybalance forms a decent part of the total frame. If you used it in a wideshot of (say) Westminster Abbey though, the Ezybalance would be so tiny it would get lost in the frame and therefore it would be useless.

For more info have a look at Lastolite's videos - http://www.lastoliteschoolofphotography.com/tag/ezybalance
 
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Cheers for that,i have not done very much in the way of landscape or building work,used to do a lot of motorsport but i feel like a change now.:):thumbs:
 
Which one then. ^^ ^ ^ ^ ^

:shrug:

After looking at them again i am thinking this one might be best, XpoBalance
 
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TriBalance is 30" - too big to carry around when 'unfurled' but obviously no probs in a studio. XpoBalance is 15" so each of the sections will be quite small compared to the 12" EzyBalance. I'd go for an EzyBalance (I did in fact :)).
 
I think you are right about the EzyBalance,i just dont want to go & buy the wrong one & then a clever clog comes along when its too late & to say you should have gone for blah blah.:lol::p
 
My lastolite arrived today,excellent service again from fotosense.:):thumbs:
 
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